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Thursday, October 18, 2012

Pumpkin Friands

Fall is my favorite season, even though I do not get to experience the beautiful colors of the changing leaves were I live. I know that I am very fortunate to have a tropical setting to live in, but looking at the beautiful fall colors always makes me a little wishful. This is also my favorite time of year because I get to bake quite regularly with one of my favorite ingredients, pumpkin.

A few days ago I realized that I hadn't made friands in a long time. They are very popular in Australia, and you will find a version of them in almost every cafe. They are a little like a muffin, but lighter. The main ingredients in a friand are almond meal, powdered sugar, flour, and egg whites, and chocolate or fruit is a popular additional flavoring. Most friands are made in an oval-shaped friand pan. However, you can easily substitute a muffins tin like I did - mine was square.

My choice of flavoring last time was raspberry and I used a recipe from an Australian cookbook. I searched for a recipe that was pumpkin-flavored but could not find one, so used a basic recipe by Donna Hay and created my own.

Friands are such a nice treat to enjoy because they are not heavy, and the almond meal gives them a nice nutty flavor. As usual the hardest part is waiting for them to cool down so I can dust them with powdered sugar and enjoy them with a cup of coffee. Next time I am going to make a double batch because 10 friands just don't last very long.

Hi! I am just stopping by from "The Cake Slice" to see how you are doing! Ready for the Holidays? We've been voting for our December Cake and I haven't seen you around... hopefully you can post on our Cake Slice Blog! http://thecakeslice.blogspot.com/

I love the idea of a lighter pumpkin "muffin"--those look awesome and pinned them. Do you have any interest in joining my tribe on triberr? It is a great way to keep track of the blogs you like (as long as they are on triberr lol) and to promote each other as well. Let me know.

Hi Felice! How Are you Doing? I hope you have a chance to stop by "The Cake Slice" soon! We are already displaying our cupcakes (you voted for Mississippi Mud Cupcakes and they won! ;) Remember?) so I hope you have a chance to post and share with us about your baking! :) Hugs!

These were great! I wanted a pumpkin recipe for the holidays, but something a little less conventional. I doubled the batch, and managed to make 3 dozen. On my second dozen, I added some cinnamon and nutmeg, which added a nice burst of flavor! Thanks for sharing!